3 application.”3 In said brief, the State partially confessed the facts and recognized specific legal petitions and reparations claimed by the Commission and the representatives, the scope and content of which shall be determined in the corresponding chapter (infra para. 11 to 21). II JURISDICTION 7. The Inter-American Court has jurisdiction to hear the instant case pursuant to the terms of Articles 62 and 63 (1) of the American Convention, since Colombia has been a State Party to the American Convention since July 31, 1973 and accepted the contentious jurisdiction of the Court on June 21, 1985. III PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COURT 8. The application filed by the Commission was served on the State4 and on the representatives on July 17, 2006. During the proceedings before this Tribunal, in addition to the main briefs forwarded by the parties (supra paras. 1, 5 y 6), the President of the Court,5 (hereinafter the “President”) ordered that the following statements rendered before a notary public (affidavits) be admitted: testimonies and experts’ opinions offered by the Commission, the representatives and the State, with respect to which the parties may have the chance to present their observations. Furthermore, in consideration of the specific circumstances of the case at hand, the President summoned the Inter-American Commission, the representatives and the State to a public hearing in order to hear the statements of two relatives of the alleged victim, two witnesses and one expert witness, as well as the final oral arguments on the merits and the possible reparations and costs of this case. The public hearing was held on January 29 and 30, 2007, during the74th Regular Session of the Court.6 3 The State appointed Mr. José del Carmen Ortega Chaparro as Agent and Mrs. Luz Marina Gil Garcia as Deputy Agent. Afterwards, on November 10, 2006, the State substituted Mrs. Gil García for Mr. Jaime Castillo Farfán. 4 At the moment of serving the application on the State, the State was informed of its right to appoint an ad hoc judge in order to participate in the determination of the case. On July 31, 2006, the State appointed Mr. Diego Eduardo López Medina as ad hoc judge (record on the merits, Volume I, page 89). 5 Resolution of the President of the Inter-American Court of December 20, 2006 (record on the merits, Volume IV, page 505). 6 At this public hearing there appeared: a) for the Inter-American Commission: Víctor Abramovich, Commissioner and Santiago A. Canton, Executive Secretary, as Delegates ; Elizabeth Abi-Mershed, Juan Pablo Albán and Verónica Gómez, as advisors ; b) for the representatives : Eduardo Carreño Wilches, Rafael Barrios Mendivil and Jomary Ortegón Osorio, members of the “José Alvear Restrepo” Lawyers’ Collective Association and c) for the State: José del Carmen Ortega Chaparro, Agent; Jaime Castillo Farfán, Deputy Agent; Luis Guillermo Fernández, Ambassador of Colombia in Costa Rica; Camilo Ospina Bernal, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Colombia before OAS; Clara Inés Vargas Silva, Director of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Luz Marina Gil García, Director of Military Criminal Justice of the Ministry of National Defense; Hernán Guillermo Aldana Duque, Paula Lizano Van Der Latt, Diana Patricia Ávila and Álvaro Francisco Amaya Villarreal, as advisors of the Department of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Dionisio Araujo, Director of the National Legal Defense of the Ministry of Justice and Domestic Affairs; María Fernanda Cabal Molina, Director of International Affairs of the Public Prosecutors’ Office of Colombia; Sonia Uribe, Coordinator of the Contentious Group within the Ministry of National Defense; Diana Bravo Rubio, Advisor of the Presidential Program for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law; Laura Virginia Benedetti Rocallo, International Affairs of the Public Prosecutors' Office of Colombia; Gustavo Paredes, from the